21 December, 2012
Planning Assessment Commission recommendation on Coalpac expansion is a victory for common sense
The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales has called on the O’Farrell Government to declare Ben Bullen State Forest a State Conservation Area after the NSW Planning Assessment Commission today comprehensively rejected plans for an open-cut coal mine on the site.
NCC Campaigns Director Kate Smolski said the PAC’s recommendation that the Coalpac Consolidation Project near Lithgow be rejected was a victory for common sense, the community and the environment.
“If the Coalpac project proceeded it would have scalped 843 hectares of mostly wildlife habitat and old-growth forest and turned the stunning network of pagoda structures into piles of waste rock,” Ms Smolski said. “This is a great finding for the community and for the environment. We trust that the Department of Planning and Infrastructure will accept the recommendations and now reject the application entirely.”
NCC understands the Department of Planning and Infrastructure will now prepare an environmental assessment for the Director General of the Department of Planning and Infrastructure prior to a second PAC where a final recommendation will be made.
Mining company Coalpac Pty Ltd is seeking to significantly extend its open-cut mine by consolidating its Cullen Valley Mine and Invincible Colliery operations. If approved, the Coalpac Consolidation Project would produce up to 3.5 million tonnes of coal a year for 21 years.
The Gardens of Stone is a complex of coloured escarpments, narrow canyons, upland swamps, rock arches and pagodas that provide habitat for many endangered plants and wildlife, including six animals listed as endangered under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act: the Regent Honeyeater, Spotted Tail Quoll, Bathurst Copper Butterfly, Brushtailed Rock-wallaby and Powerful Owl.
“Given the damning findings of the first PAC assessment today, it would very surprising and disappointing if this project were approved by subsequent inquiries,” Ms Smolski said.
“The O’Farrell Government now has an historic opportunity to protect this unique part of the state’s environmental heritage for future generations and to improve its poor environmental credentials by declaring it a State Conservation Area.”
Tags
Coal and gas
Let others know about this issue